Four UPenn Students Built A Smart Thermometer To Help Parents Monitor Their Kids' Fevers Anytime, Anywhere

Collin Hill learned the importance of monitoring his fever first-hand when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma before he could start college at the University of Pennsylvania.

During his chemotherapy, Hill had to constantly take his temperature since he was more susceptible to infections.

One night he went to bed after measuring a normal temperature only to wake up a few hours with a high fever that took him to the ER. When sharing his experiences at a medical health conference at Penn, Hill and some of his fellow students realized there was a simple solution to this problem.

Now, 18 months later, Hill, William Duckworth, Aaron Goldstein and his sister Becca Goldstein are getting ready to launch Fever Smart, a smart device that constantly monitors someone's temperature and sends alerts to an app if a fever spikes.

The four Penn students realized their smart thermometer could have a huge impact, especially on parents that may be worrying about their sleeping kids. With Fever Smart, those parents would be able to monitor their childrens' health at all times of the day, wherever they are.

All they would need is to place the small Fever Smart device - it's about the size of two quarters - under their child's armpit and secure it with a patch.

The device then monitors the child's temperature and sends the data to a nearby device (including tablets and smartphones) via Bluetooth. The information is then uploaded to the cloud so parents can stay informed even if they are not within a close enough Bluetooth range.

According to Aaron Goldstein, Fever Smart's CEO, the child will barely even notice that the device is there. It was the smallest the team could make the device without it being a choking hazard.

"Traditional thermometers are difficult to use, uncomfortable for children, and only provide a one time temperature reading," Goldstein told Business Insider. "Fever Smart allows you to monitor your child's temperature from anywhere in the world. It's safe, easy to use, and will provide parents with the peace of mind they deserve."

Goldstein and his team plan to launch an Indiegogo campaign next month to raise funds for manufacturing the devices. But they already have a working prototype with FDA approval, so they're hoping to be able to ship the devices by the end of the year.

They're looking at a $129 price point for Fever Smart, which Goldstein claims is below the average price for children's wearable health devices.

There are a few other companies like Kinsa that are working on smart thermometers, but they lack the continuous tracking that Fever Smart provides. And the few wearable devices that do provide constant temperature reads tend to only read skin temperatures as opposed to body temperatures.

While none of the Penn students have any medical background, the father of the two Goldsteins, who happens to be a full-time emergency room physician, has been advising them through the process. And they've also gotten some support from the digital health accelerator at the science center in Philadelphia.

Here are some screenshots of the app: